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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27463468">Pick-Me-Up</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowersforgraves/pseuds/flowersforgraves'>flowersforgraves</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stargate Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, F/F, Fade to Black, Hurt/Comfort</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:00:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,016</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27463468</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowersforgraves/pseuds/flowersforgraves</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>They're both entitled to a little whining, and who could say no to a pick-me-up afterward?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Vanessa James/Tamara "TJ" Johansen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Femslash Exchange 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Pick-Me-Up</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivulet027/gifts">Rivulet027</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>All that “days pass in a blur under stress” stuff is bullshit.</p><p>TJ has been living every second of every day like an hour, and she’s ready for it to be over. She’s already lost people, not even a week into this hell mission, and the infirmary isn’t even organized yet. </p><p>“Hey,” Vanessa says, leaning against the doorframe, studiously casual.</p><p>“Hey yourself,” TJ replies, offering her a tired smile. “What can I do for you?”</p><p>Vanessa pushes away from the door, deliberately leaving her body language open. “More like, what can <em>I</em> do for <em>you</em>?” she asks, injecting some sultry swagger into her tone. Then she sobers. “I just came by to see if you needed anything. You haven’t been eating with the rest of us and I wanted to make sure you were eating at all.”</p><p>TJ shrugs. “I’m fine,” she says. “I’m tired and I want to go home. Nothing out of the ordinary.”</p><p>Vanessa laughs, a sudden, bitter thing. “None of this is fucking ordinary.”</p><p>She leans against Vanessa’s shoulder. “Fucking Rush,” she agrees. “I’m okay, though. I need to finish the inventory before I feel comfortable in here, but that’s mostly it.” She waves a hand in the general direction of the piles of medication and bandages they’d salvaged from Icarus Base, and lets her shoulders slump. “I just keep having to use supplies before I know how limited our stock is, and I keep wondering how bad is bad enough, if we’re going to be stuck here for months.”</p><p>“‘How bad is bad enough’?” Vanessa echoes, furrowing her brow.</p><p>TJ sighs. “What if we need that codeine pill for a worse injury next week? What if I use the last sterile needle on a cut finger the day before I need to sew someone’s intestines back together? The longer we’re here the more we’ll need to conserve supplies, and if what Rush is saying is true, then we’ve got a long haul ahead.”</p><p>Vanessa wraps an arm around her shoulders. “Hey. Listen to me, okay? You’re doing fine. This is a shitty situation that we’re all dealing with, and no one is going to blame you for using the supplies we’ve got.”</p><p>“I am,” TJ points out, somewhat petulantly, and then laughs at her own tone of voice. “God, I sound like a real whiner.”</p><p>Vanessa gently hip-checks her. “You’re entitled to some whining. So am I, by the way, and if you would just come to dinner…” She trails off meaningfully.</p><p>TJ laughs. “I’m coming!” She leans over and gives Vanessa a quick peck on the cheek, and is rewarded with a blush.</p><p>As expected, Becker’s managed to eke out something edible from the disaster of a kitchen. It’s not good, but it’s certainly food, and TJ’s stomach growls as she cups the bowl of thin gruel in her hands. “I can’t believe I’m looking forward to eating this,” she says to Vanessa.</p><p>Vanessa grins. “I’ve got something else for you to be eating for dessert,” she says with a wink.</p><p>TJ smacks her on the shoulder, but Vanessa’s managed to draw out a real smile, the first one since they’ve been on the <em>Destiny</em>. “Thanks, V,” she says between mouthfuls of soup. “I think I really needed this.”</p><p>“So did I,” Vanessa says, more seriously than TJ expects. “I – like I said, everyone’s been having a shitty few days. A week? God, TJ, I don’t even know how long it’s been.”</p><p>TJ scoots closer, pressing her shoulder against Vanessa’s. “You want to do that whining you talked about?”</p><p>She snorts. “What’s there to whine about? Trapped on a fucking spaceship millions of lightyears from home? Potentially never getting to go home again? Our CO’s injured, and Lieutenant Scott’s first SGC posting is this one? You’re beating yourself up about not having supplies when you were one of the people insisting we bring them in the first place? Fucking Rush, just – being fucking Rush?”She waves a hand, frustrated. “Nothing to whine about.”</p><p>“It’s a shitty situation,” TJ repeats. “You said it yourself. But you know what I think?”</p><p>“What,” Vanessa says, still irritable. </p><p>“I think we – I think you – are too stubborn to give up,” TJ tells her. “I think the second someone tells you it can’t be done you’re going to say, ‘fucking watch me,’ and you’re going to try and prove them wrong. And that’s why you’re not going to give up.”</p><p>Vanessa snorts again. “You know me so well,” she says, and scrapes the last of the porridge soup from the bottom of her bowl. “Let’s go have a break before the next thing sets on fire.”</p><p>TJ stands up, stretching, and yawns. “Whatever you say,” she agrees. “Sir, yes, sir.”</p><p>The room Vanessa has claimed as hers isn’t big, but it’s certainly no closet. The bed is sprawling compared to the size of the room, and TJ looks around appreciatively. “Nice digs,” she says. “The walls are looking a little bare, though. Have you thought about repainting?”</p><p>Vanessa silences her with a kiss. TJ melts against her, relaxing into the familiarity of it. She brings one hand up to undo Vanessa’s ponytail, letting her hair fall down her back, and Vanessa moans into her mouth appreciatively.</p><p>“Okay, V?” TJ asks breathlessly. </p><p>Vanessa grins, and TJ can feel it against her skin. “Better than okay,” she says, and slides her hands up TJ’s shirt.</p><p>She whines as Vanessa’s cold fingers come into contact with bare skin. “Shit,” she says, and with a quick breath dives back into their kiss.</p><p>“Shit,” Vanessa agrees after a long moment, and squeezes one of TJ’s breasts for emphasis. </p><p>Oh, that means war. She yelps in mock outrage, and tackles Vanessa to the bed in response. Time to escalate the stakes. “Did you say you had dessert for me?” she teases, and Vanessa’s cheeks flush deeper red. “I’m not a very patient woman.”</p><p>Vanessa tugs her down for another kiss. “Neither am I,” she says. “Two of a kind.”</p><p>“Two of a kind,” TJ agrees, and proceeds to take Vanessa apart.</p>
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